For The First-Timer Considering Skiing or Snowboarding

18 min readFeb 6, 2024

Where does one start?

This article may quickly outdate itself as prices and details change over time, but as of January 2024, here is my best brief stab at answering the following question(s) I’ve gotten from friends (regarding skiing in the American Rockies):

Realistically how expensive would it be for someone who’s never gone skiing or snowboarding to do that? How long would it take me to actually be able to become somewhat competent and enjoy my experience? If I’m unable to go for very long (financially or otherwise), is it even ‘worth it?’

Reaching Competence

Obviously this is all wildly subjective. How does one define competence in asking the question? How do I define it and what biases influence my answer?

No doubt, there are plenty of factors that contribute significantly to how quickly someone picks up these particular hobbies:

Quality of Instruction
Experience, Athleticism, & Propensity for Board/Ski Sports
Fear Level & General Understanding of How Snow & Gravity Work
Teachability/Humility

Amongst others.

How Long Should My First Trip Be?

Reaching competence is dependent far more upon the above factors than how much time you spend on the mountain.

A word of advice: No matter what conclusions you draw from my below suggestions, just get out there.

You could get nowhere in a short 1–3 day trip and simply enjoy the company and the views, which are unmatched (e.g. endless mountains and wildlife compared to endless ocean and sand). Plus, there’s always a chance that you could discover that you’re born to shred and have an absolute blast, albeit numerous bruises.

In order to help you gauge your own natural propensity for either hobby, I can only offer you my own experience and opinion.

Skiing

Frankly I’ve been on skis since I was two years old so my ability to judge is limited mostly by what I’ve seen in others.

I will say that a key mental turning point for me as a kid was realizing that my skis were essentially long roller blades, and all those fifth grade birthday parties at the roller rink began to pay dividends. I might go so far as to say if you can roller blade or ice skate you can ski.

We’ll get into my advice on taking lessons, because I do believe that proper real-time instruction and feedback on the mountain is key. In an effort to get you started mentally, I’ll provide my short soap box so that you can begin to gauge your own propensity for competence.

The ‘hockey stop’ is essentially your silver bullet. In fact, I firmly believe the ‘pizza wedge’ trick [taught in every ski school to my knowledge] is the single greatest disservice to skiers longterm. The ‘pizza wedge’ (as opposed to the ‘french fries’) is where you put your ski tips together and snowplow yourself to a stop.

While it is crucial to know how to stop safely, these kinds of ‘tips’ (no pun intended) create mental barriers (and barriers of physical muscle memory) that can take a multitude of ski trips to overcome. Said another way, this well-intentioned bad habit creates a very tiny comfort zone which is very hard to expand later. My suggestion is to practice the ‘right way’ from the beginning. I promise you will progress much much faster.

The ‘hockey stop,’ in conjunction with the other factors mentioned above, might turn your one-week journey to relative competency into one day.

Snowboarding

I tried my hand at snowboarding when I was 15–16 years old. I signed up for a half-day group lesson and by halfway through that lesson the instructor told me I’d progress faster by going with my friends. Having been pretty well-versed in other board sports and being at an age of peak peer pressure with friends who were essentially expert level snowboarders, I reached relative competence in hours. Granted, my knees, backside, and wrists were black and blue by the end of 5–6 days but the drive and resilience to get immediately upright every time I fell (which was constantly) helped me keep up with my friends even through some fast tree runs and moguls.

It’s true that other board sports will give you a baseline level of comfort being sideways, but not all boarding experience is equal.

If a wakeboard is your only experience, you may not be as comfortable on a snowboard as you might think. You may be prone to lean on your back leg too much, which may translate well to a big powder day, but it may take more time to feel confident having your weight more evenly distributed on a board. You may also struggle on the snow, having not had to control your own speed behind a boat. That said, you should already feel comfortable having both feet strapped onto a board and that’s a plus.

Skateboarding or wake surfing don’t have that benefit but they will provide you with that more balanced/centered experience as opposed to riding on your hind leg.

Longboarding experience (which I didn’t really have) may be one of your best bets because you’ll be balanced evenly on the board and comfortable going downhill with some speed. Best yet, longboarding forces you to turn on your toeside (vs heelside), which is the silver bullet of snowboarding (and conversely people’s most significant barrier to achieving competence). This is not unlike other board sports but coupled with the downhill speed, longboarding experience may be a recipe for quick success on the snow.

Lastly, if you’ve ever been on a two-wheel Ripstick, you’ll have an added advantage of knowing what it’s like to more fully control your destiny with that back leg. Knowing how to shove your rear leg in front of you (heelside) and throw it back behind you (toeside) will provide indispensable muscle memory for controlling your journey down the mountain.

I’ve watched many friends and strangers ride on their heelside edge back and forth like a falling leaf, snowplowing all the way down the mountain. While you can get down the mountain this way, it is much like the ‘pizza wedge’ discussed above; It is a very small comfort zone with a very low ceiling for speed and overall progress. Riding down the mountain with your shoulders pointed where you’re going is certainly more comfortable, but your group will leave you in the dust if your board is sideways all the way down.

Whether you are overwhelmed or optimistic, hopefully this gives you a starting point. Regardless of how quickly (or slowly) you think you might learn either of these sports, there are plenty of people out there willing to help you progress (more on that below).

Aside from telling you to go live in a shack at the top of the mountain and get 200 days in per year, I would recommend a 5–7 day trip if your finances and paid-time-off allow. This allows you a day off in the middle of the trip to sit in the hot tub and ice the aforementioned bruises for a day if you need. It also alleviates some of the pressure to be up there hard-charging the mountain every second if you need to swap out rental boots, get out of the cold, or stop and enjoy a beer.

Give It To Me Straight. How Much Is This Gonna Cost Me?

Keep in mind that most of this article is geared toward resort skiing in the American Rockies, so treat this as the conservative ‘ceiling’ for how expensive a trip might be, apart for a few tips and tricks for cost savings below.

The financial burden of a ski trip can create counter-productive mental pressure for some.

“I must be skiing every second to make this worth it.” — Mad Guy Whose Group Is Slow

“I must be enjoying every second to make this worth it.” — Mad Girl Not Enjoying It

The list goes on.

So first things first. Count the cost, pull the trigger, and then surrender it all to the carefree spirit of the mountain.

Lift Tickets

Your first task is likely going to be the decision of where to ski, which will inform what pass you purchase.

There are a good handful of multi-resort passes if you want to hop around, but even if you don’t, these also tend to be highly advantageous value propositions contrasted with paying ticket-window prices day-of. The catch is that many of these must be purchased before the season starts or you’ll be subject to relying on ‘buddy pass’ or ‘ski with a friend’ type discounts from your pass-holding comrades. Try not to let the sticker-shock get you down and pull the trigger early if you can.

The two big multi-resort passes are EPIC (owned by Vail Resorts) and IKON (owned by Alterra). Based on the 2023–24 ski season and pre-season pricing (they only go up from here):

EPIC Day — $86 (customizable; For example, these “can be purchased for one to seven days and with or without restrictions. For example, four-day passes good at all resorts are available for $375, $288 for 32 resorts and $175 for 22 resorts.”)
EPIC Military — $159
Northeast Value — $555 (up to $603 by the December cutoff)
EPIC College — $652 (limited to some resorts)
EPIC Local — $676 (up to $795 by the December cutoff)
EPIC [Full]— $909 (up to $1,025 by the December cutoff)
IKON Session —$259 (up to $539 by August) (offers a range of two, three and four days at 39 ski areas)
IKON Base — $829 (up to $979 by August)
IKON [Full] — $1,159 (up to $1,309 by August)

Contrast this with, for example, “a one-day adult lift ticket at Beaver Creek can price at $299 for one single day.”

You may also be wise to contrast these with other multi-resort passes.

For example, if you’ve got beef with the big dogs, the Indy Pass (recently bought by Entabeni Systems) is a multi-resort pass for independent resorts only (hence the namesake), committed to keeping the proverbial Papa Muntz legacy alive at Bull Mountain (and keep Snow Nook out).

You can get 2 days on any of their 180 official ‘partner resorts’ and ‘allied partners’ for as low as $379 and 85 cents of every dollar goes to the resorts.

While this guide is from last ski season and the Indy Pass has continued to grow, it provides a helpful chart of options. There are always more recent guides as well.

October Pricing:

The Indy Cross-Country AddOn Pass: $79
The Indy Cross-Country Pass: $99
Indy Base AddOn Pass: $279 (if you already have an unlimited season pass at an Indy Pass ski resort.) (This pass includes some blackout days.)
Indy Base Pass: $399 (some blackout days)
Indy + AddOn Pass: $379 (full unlimited access for season pass holders at Indy Partner Resorts)
Indy Plus Pass: $499 (no blackout dates)

Other multi-resort pass options to consider:

With any multi-resort pass, you’ll want to pay attention to any blackout dates or limited days on the mountain(s) you intend to visit. Guides like this one or this one can help simplify that process.

Of course, you can (and should) always check the ticket prices on the main site of whatever resort you want to visit. I’ve gotten a $9 day at Sipapu, a New Mexican hidden gem, as it made more sense than the Power Pass.

Travel

I’ll let you look up your own gas and flight costs, but bear in mind the following when considering flights:

You will still need some form of transit to the mountain you’re skiing. There are of course standard rental car companies (and Turo might also be worth comparing), as well as UberXL or LyftXL, but there are also plenty of shuttle services that take public/private groups back and forth from the airport to the mountains (mountainshuttle.com, flydenver.com, mountainshuttledenver.com, etc). I recommend googling the specifics of your trip, make some calls, and pick the service that seems best for you. One side note: If you are considering an EPIC pass (above) you might inquire with EPIC’s shuttle service for potential discounts.
Some mountains have small airports (e.g. EGE in Vail or TEX in Telluride) that may be worth considering.
Denver (and these smaller airports) often cancel flights and generally take longer during peak ski season, so build in more buffer (and contingency plans) than you would for a one-way flight to the beach.

*consider that your bags might get grimy on the back of a shuttle van…*

Zooming back out, keep in mind that whether you drive or fly is somewhat (if not entirely) dependent upon other factors aside from cost.

If your goal is to achieve competence and you have a willing (and knowledgable) friend who can teach (and push) you, then you have some potential financial flexibility to consider a short 2–3 day trip. Meaning, your necessary flight cost for such a short trip may be less than the money you’re saving on an expensive lesson or a generally extended trip.

Lessons

Lessons might be hit or miss.

There are a plethora of great instructors out there, if not all of them. My theory is that since this is almost any skier’s dream job (e.g. mine) and they get a lot of applicants, they continue to retain the best of the best.

That said, whether or not you get your money’s worth depends more on the type of the lesson than the instructor (remember the example of my snowboarding lesson above).

And the ‘better’ the type of lesson…the more expensive.

To be conservative, I’ll generally use Vail Mountain as a guide. There are a few that might be more than this, but generally most everything will be a little (and maybe a lot) lower.

As of January 2024, individual adult lessons for skiing/snowboarding are as follows:

Public ‘Group’ Lessons (which will put you in a random group of others at your skill level):

Beginner:

Half Day $207
Full Day $278
2-Day $556
3-Day $556

Intermediate:

Half Day $207
Full Day $278
2-Day $556
3-Day $556

Advanced:

Half Day [might not be an option; note that if you are getting an advanced lesson the draw may be more about learning the best spots on the mountain and technical advice (moguls, trees, terrain parks) that may be more conducive to a full hard-charging day or more]
Full Day $278
2-Day $556
3-Day $556

Private Lessons (Up to 6 People):

Half Day (3 hrs): $906–943 [Morning or Afternoon Options]
Full Day (6.5 hrs): $1251–1309

I’ll reiterate that these may be hit or miss, not because of the ski instructor’s competence, but because of their capacity depending on the type of lesson (and the group size on that particular day). Either way, you are going to get great instruction and if you’re lucky, you’ll be the only one signed up that day and end up with a ‘cheap’ private lesson by chance.

For reference, I know a group of relatively new 40–60 year old skiers who were offered 3 days of group lessons at Breckenridge. Those who stuck with the lessons for the third day had a lot of things ‘click’ and seemed to reach a higher level of competence than those who only did two days.

(One extra note on snowboard lessons)

Only you can be the judge of your own ability (and financial flexibility) to ‘gamble’ on this. If you want to get the most bang for your buck, get one full day of private lessons.

That said, if you’re paying something like the Vail rate above, just book me a flight instead and I’ll teach you!

You might also consider new alternative (or perhaps additional) options like the Carv ‘digital ski coach.’ I’ve heard good things about it but don’t have personal experience (…yet).

Rentals

The last main fixed cost you’ll want to consider is rentals.

Some tips for keeping cost down:

As a general rule, if you ‘package’ your gear together (board+boots+helmet) you can expect a ‘discount.’
If you rent multiple packages for multiple people in the same checkout, you may expect a discount.
You may find lower costs at something like a Christy Sports shop rather than renting through Vail’s website (which offers a map of shops so that you can find the most convenient one for pickup), however grouping rentals together with other purchases through Vail’s site (such as lessons) may prove more cost-effective as well. (One example to compare to the costs below: A friend of mine spent $344 for one day of lessons + rentals + lift ticket at Breckenridge during the 2022/23 season)
You may even find a better deal picking up your gear at a shop in a nearby town (e.g. Dillon or Silverthorne if you’re skiing in Summit County) rather than at the base of the mountain.
As is with most things, you may also get a slight discount for booking well in advance of your trip.
Of course, the more days you book, you might also expect that daily price tag to go down.

For reference, here are some last-minute ‘package’ Friday to Sunday deals through the Vail website (I checked the box for post-3pm pickup Friday so that I won’t get charged for Friday):

“Packages starting at $61 or $73 per day” (various shop options)
I clicked on one of the $61+ options.
This includes skis, poles, and boots. Renting a helmet is a $14/day add-on.
**PLEASE get a helmet. It’s not worth the risk. You’re going to catch an edge and hit the snow hard at some point. A helmet will let you ski more confidently, which will likely decrease the number of times you eat snow.** (Helmets are actually ‘cool’ nowadays so don’t be prideful. If you can, get a helmet that you can zip some chips into and prep a good playlist)
If you don’t need boots, you save $4–5. Congrats.
DEMO Skis (ability level green+blue+black): Total (for the 2 ski days) before tax comes up as $188 with a helmet included and advertises $28 in savings based on an advertised walk-in price of $108/day.
PERFORMANCE Skis (ability level green+blue): Total (for the 2 ski days) before tax comes up as $168 with a helmet included and advertises $24 in savings based on an advertised walk-in price of $96/day.
SPORT Skis (ability level green): Total (for the 2 ski days) before tax comes up as $152 with a helmet included and advertises $22 in savings based on an advertised walk-in price of $87/day.

Regarding the ability level, I generally recommend going with demo skis. With ski technology ever-increasing, skiing generally gets ‘easier’ the better skis get. I wouldn’t want older ski tech limiting my ability to progress in any way.

That said, if you’re pinching pennies, get the ‘sport’ ski tier and don’t sweat it —they’ll probably offer you some of the best all-mountain skis from 8 seasons ago and they’ll be just fine.

Regardless of what tier you choose, the folks at the shop will help you pick the style of ski that best fits you and the current mountain conditions. They may try to talk you out of demo skis if you tell them you’re a beginner, and I would feel best to encourage you to concede to their expertise if they have a convincing argument, but frankly I personally wouldn’t worry too much about it.

If you have the need, desire, or ability for something with even easier logistics, you can investigate services like Black Tie or Ski Butlers. They’ll bring a whole mess of equipment straight to where you’re staying and you can get fitted and ready to go in the comfort of your living room rather than the grimy carpet of a rental shop at the base. I noticed there is also a ‘delivery’ checkbox at the Vail but this does appear to increase the above costs by around $40 total.

I would also recommend starting an account on Curated.com which will connect you with an expert in whatever category you’re looking at. They will be able to help guide you (for free) toward any deals and advice on what equipment you may want to purchase or demo when you get to the mountain. This may help significantly mitigate the intimidation factor inherent in buying expensive high-tech equipment.

Lodging

This one is simply too variable to even try to guide you on. You can probably find anything from $50 to $2000 per night. While $50 may be hard to come by, and is probably far enough away from the resort that it requires having a vehicle (reminder to investigate parking costs at the base), we’re not talking about the bullet-ridden La Quinta Inn in Amarillo. Last season I found an awesome ~$50 hostel outside of Telluride and it was an incredible experience.

Do your homework on this one — scour AirBnb, Vrbo, and all mountain lodging options inside/outside of the main resort website.

Clothing

If you’re from Minnesota this probably won’t concern you but it’s worth mentioning.

Unless you’re skiing in the Spring, you will need adequate clothing.

Insufficient jackets, pants, and socks (!) will make all of these financial investments for naught. You will be miserable, or worse — you may put yourself in a dangerous position pending weather.

Rest assured, while you can get the top of the line Arc’teryx layers and ring up for $5000, this is absolutely unneeded. Here are some great [2022/23 season] recommendations from my trendy girlfriend if you want to go down the rabbit hole, but always consider borrowing from a friend or get whatever discounted gear you can find at Evo, The-House, or Backcountry you can find and call it good.

Better yet, go to a thrift store in a mountain town and you can find some awesome discarded gear. You may look like an idiot with clashing colors and outdated styles but…that’s kind of the style.

Jacket (I recommend something with a ‘snow skirt’ especially if you intend to snowboard)
Pants (I recommend bibs because they’re dope (and warm))
Thin Ski Socks (I recommend something like Smartwool and not skimping on socks.) (‘Thin’ might be counter-intuitive but if you’re too tight in your boots you’ll cut off circulation and get cold — you don’t want cold toes. Let those babies breathe and sweat a bit.) (Get a pack of two, air ’em out, and rotate them. No need for a new pair every ski day.)
Gloves (I recommend mittens. They’re warmer. I’ll never go back.) (I recommend a reputable brand — read reviews. Can’t go wrong with Hestra (premium) and I’ve been rotating some Burtons and some Oakleys for about 15 years with no issues and no hand warmers.) (Please get gloves/mittens with wrist leashes… don’t let one of those sad lonely gloves under the chair on a hard mogul run be one of yours.)
Goggles (Don’t touch your lenses and take care of these bad boys — if you can’t see you can’t ski.) (There’s all kinds of new crazy goggle tech out there and I’ve found that you ‘get what you pay for,’ but just get something mid-range and you’ll be just fine.)

Again, for these things as well, I would recommend starting an account on Curated.com which will connect you with an expert in whatever gear category you’re looking at. They will be able to help guide you (for free) toward any deals and advice on what gear is best suited for you. This may help significantly mitigate the intimidation factor inherent in buying expensive high-tech gear.

I suppose you can always hit the Lost & Found at the base and see what gems Ski Patrol has brought down from under the lifts over the season. Let me know if you find either of my GoPros.

Just Get Out There

While this may feel like a hundred reasons not to try your hand at skiing, that was actually the opposite of my intent. The goal here was to equip you with some very realistic expectations to know what you’re getting yourself into, but also to provide a very conservative ‘ceiling’ of costs. The fact is, there are hundreds of resorts in North America and many are very affordable.

At the end of the day, remember to try and find a good instructor and to be humble/teachable. While anyone can (and will) have fun on a very short trip, I also have friends who have skied or snowboarded 30–50+ days of their lives and only very minimally progressed. Like anything, there is a learning curve with key inflection points along the way (see both of my soap boxes above). If you don’t heed advice to force yourself beyond these, you will not progress.

Find a teacher (even if it’s just a friendly person from the lift ride up), listen to their advice, and just get out there.

Bonus Tip: Pack a sandwich. Nothing better than a flattened pocket sandwich and saving $100 on lunch at the lodge. Don’t go hungry but don’t break the bank, and don’t put yourself in a food coma and ruin your afternoon.